Prior art systems that utilize panels to provide a decorative covering on a support surface are well known in the art. For decades, vinyl siding panels have been mounted on exterior walls of buildings to cover, protect, and decorate the exterior walls. Generally, these panels are positioned adjacent to one another for covering the exterior wall of the building and, often, the panels include interlocks for securing adjacent panels to one another. U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,522 to Hoofe III illustrates one such system.
In Hoofe III, each of the panels includes a top, a bottom, and first and second ends. A mounting flange is adjacent to the top for securing the panels to a support surface. Each of the panels also includes upper and lower rows of decorative portions. The lower row of decorative portions has a lower edge adjacent to the bottom of the panel. A plurality of pockets are defined in the lower edge. The upper row of decorative portions has an upper edge adjacent to the mounting flange. A plurality of protruding elements are disposed on the upper edge and extend upwardly from the upper edge for mating with the pockets defined in the lower edge of a vertically adjacent panel. As a result, the cooperating pockets and protruding elements act as interlocks for vertically adjacent panels to prevent horizontal shifting of the panels.
Other prior art systems utilize interlocks that are located on the ends of overlapping panels. In U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0159062 to Donlin et al., each of the panels includes a top, a bottom, and first and second ends. A first overlap portion is adjacent to the first end and a second overlap portion is adjacent to the second end. The first overlap portion overlaps the second overlap portion of a horizontally adjacent panel. The first overlap portion includes a plurality of upwardly extending hooks. The second overlap portion defines a plurality of corresponding slots. As a result, the hooks are inserted into the slots defined in the horizontally adjacent panel to secure the panels to one another when mounting the panels on a support surface.
One draw back to the prior art interlocks is that the interlocks are often difficult to manufacture into the panel and may result in installation problems because they include elements that protrude from the panel. These types of interlocks are also subject to damage during manufacturing and transportation due to their protruding nature. Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide an interlock in the overlapping end regions that overcomes such problems to secure horizontally adjacent panels to one another.